


Tempered in Fire

by SorchaCahill



Series: Breath of Life [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Cunnilingus, F/M, Sexual Content, Vaginal Sex, inappropriate use of the Spectre office
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 12:20:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16618844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorchaCahill/pseuds/SorchaCahill
Summary: Olivia needed some alone time and what better place to get it in a place that only Spectres had access to. Thing is she isn't the only human Spectre anymore and her yoga routine gets a cardio element.





	Tempered in Fire

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel to Life on Delay which I recommend reading (not just pimping myself) as I refer back to it.

_Spectre status recognized. Shepard, Commander Olivia._

Olivia grimaced as the computer granted her admittance to the Spectre suite. It was still a little weird coming in here. She hadn’t had access to it during the search for Saren and after she rose from the dead, well, she hadn’t exactly been welcomed with open arms by the Council. Sure they had reinstated her Spectre status but had told her to keep a low profile which meant little to no access to the Spectre fancy toys.

But they gave it to her now. Amazing how they had come around when they were confronted with the very real threat of annihilation. Not that she still didn’t get push back from them. _Politicians_ , she thought bitterly, thinking of Udina specifically. _Universe would be better off without them._

Olivia bypassed the terminals, deliberately ignoring the blinking message light and headed toward the training room with only a tiny bit of guilt. She had come here to get away from everything and seeing as no one else had access she was essentially guaranteed that alone time until someone pinged her and she had told the others that unless the Reapers were actually attacking the station that she wasn’t to be disturbed.

Entering the training room she stipped off her BDUs to her tank top and the leggings she wore underneath, her bare skin pebbling in the cool air. She ordered the temperature up by 10 degrees and walked over to the terminal, typing in a few commands. Soft music poured through the speakers above her and within seconds some of the tension already started to seep out of her. Old Irish ballads usually weren’t her go to for her workouts but the lilting flutes and fiddle felt appropriate today for some reason.

She moved to the middle of the room, stretching muscles that were too long neglected and overworked. She also needed to calm her brain. Ever since the Reapers had attacked Earth she’d been dialed up to eleven with little to no downtime. Even her dreams were restless. She kept seeing that kid from the docks. Logically she knew that she had done everything she could have to help him but her head and her heart were at odds there.

Starting with Tadasana, Olivia went through her routine, taking measured, slow breaths through each pose. Sweat trickled down her spine as she moved from one pose to the next, her mind slowly clearing of everything and soon the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own breathing and the slow beat of her heart against her chest.

A pleasant burn ran through her muscles as she moved into Bakasana. It had taken her a while to master this pose, had in fact fallen on her ass more than once, but now it came easily and she felt a certain lightness when she held the pose. She tried not to think about how the enhancements Cerberus had done aided in that.

A lightness she nearly lost when she distantly heard the computer announced an arrival.

_Spectre status recognized. Alenko, Major Kaidan._

Olivia forced herself to maintain the pose. She kept forgetting he was also a Spectre and she really shouldn’t. It was a bit of a sore subject with him after the whole thing with Udina. She knew he felt like his induction was a political ploy. And it probably was to an extent but it didn’t diminish the fact that he deserved it. Kaidan was one of the best damn soldiers she knew. He deserved the Spectre status and fuck anyone who thought otherwise.

Slowly she extended her legs back and down so that her body was horizontal to the floor before  letting her toes touch the floor. She lay flat for several seconds before pushing herself up to the cobra pose, glancing over as Kaidan entered the training room. Was it her imagination or did something flash in those amber eyes of his? They’d made a reconciliation of sorts that day at Apollo’s and despite everything she’d felt hope. And yeah, it had been inappropriate, but she had totally checked out his ass on the way out.

It was good to know that some things never changed.

She settled back into child’s pose and let everything sink, trying not to think about why he was here. Not that he didn’t have every right to be here, it was just, well, awkward wasn’t the best word to describe it but it was the closest that came to mind.

“Shepard.”

“Kaidan,” she said, her face still pressed to the matt, taking a breath to settle herself before rolling herself up to a kneeling position. She kept her eyes closed though she could feel his on her.

“Your form has improved.”

She opened her eyes to find him leaning against the bench that lined the opposite wall. His arms were crossed over his chest and to anyone else he would have seemed completely at ease but to her she could sense a certain tension in him.

“I’ve had time to practice. And I picked up a few new tricks along the way.”

“I’ll say, but then you always did have a singular focus when you had a goal in mind,” he paused, reaching behind him. “Water?”

“Yes please,” she said, getting to her feet. Her tank top stuck to her skin as she moved toward him and she was suddenly very conscious of how sweaty she was. With a confidence she didn’t quite feel she took the proffered water bottle, feeling a slight zing through her hand as their fingers touched. Her breath hitched a little and she covered up her discomfort by draining a third of the bottle. No, not discomfort but he was definitely making her nervous.

“I should probably go, Things to do and all that,” she said, setting the bottle on the bench but making no effort to move.

“I was the one who interrupted your workout. I know you don’t get much time to yourself what with the war and everything. Don’t you normally go a couple of rounds with the bag?”

“Hitting something kind of defeats the purpose doing yoga to center oneself.”

He slid her a glance. “Really? I remember a time when you said that punching something was rather cathartic.”

Olivia thought back to some of the actions she’d taken during the Collector mission and inwardly grimaced. She had almost lost herself to her anger and if it hadn’t been for her friends, Garrus and Thane specifically, to pull her back she honestly didn’t know if she’d be here now.

“It can be,” she said slowly, looking down at her hands. “But it’s just as easy to let whatever you’re trying to release to consume you. I don’t want to be that person.”

“Hey now,” he said, shifting so that he looked at her head on. Olivia kept her head bowed, not wanting to meet his eyes. “You’re not that person. Sure you’ve got a temper and can be ruthless against your enemies but you know where the line is. No matter what’s happened, what you’ve done, you have never lost that part of yourself.”

Her brows wrinkled. What was he talking about? He didn’t know what she’d done.

“EDI is one hell of a smart AI. I doubt that there’s no database she couldn’t hack into.”

Now she was really confused. “Well, yeah, she is,” she said carefully. “I doubt our assault on the Collector base would have been successful without her. I don’t know if I would have been able to get everyone out alive.”

“You give yourself too little credit. I’ve never met a more stubborn and determined woman in my life. Once you set your mind to something you’re like a force of nature, even if it puts your own life in danger.”

“I do what I have to do,” she said slowly. “I make no apologies for that.”

“And I wouldn’t expect you to but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t scare the shit out of me. Watching you take on that human Reaper took several years off my life.”

She turned to him, her eyes wide as she gaped at him. “How? How do you know that? How did you _see_ that? I sent it to Anderson and Hackett.”

The corner of his mouth tilted up slightly. He reached out and brushed back a strand of hair that had escaped her braid. “It was attached to the other data packet you sent me.”

“But I didn’t send you any-.” She stopped, letting out a frustrated breath. “EDI. She sent it to you. She was only supposed to send it to Anderson. Wait. What other data packet?”

His cheeks flushed at her words. “She, ah, sent me your personal journal entries.”

Olivia’s mouth dropped, her mind racing back to try to remember those journal entries and what she had said. Mortification ran through her. They were personal entries for a reason, EDI had no right.

“I am going to dismantle her core and spread it across the galaxy.”

“Joker might object to that. He’s become a bit attached to her,” he said, taking one of her hands in his.

“He’ll get over it. I can’t believe she did that. They were _private_.”

“Well, technically, you were talking to me in them, so one could be forgiven for thinking that they were letters.”

“But they weren’t, they were-. How many did you get?”

“First one was not long after Horizon.”

Olivia swore viciously. Now she really did want to punch something. She pulled away from Kaidan and began to pace. She couldn’t make eye contact with him. It was embarrassing knowing that he had seen all those journal entries she’d made.

“I know I shouldn’t have watched them but I couldn’t help myself. They,” Kaidan paused, taking a deep breath. “They helped me to understand. Helped me understand what you were doing and why you were doing it.

“It was the only way I could be with you.”

Olivia stopped in her pacing and stared at him. She took a shaky breath, any sense of peace she’d gained from her workout gone. “The only way? I would have asked you to come with me, you know, but you wouldn’t listen. You were so blinded by your hatred of Cerberus that you couldn’t see me.”

“I know,” he said softly, walking to her. He took up her hands in his, brushing his thumbs over her skin. “And for that I am sorry. I should have at least heard you out. I don’t know if I would have changed my mind, but I should have listened. I owed you that much.”

“You were right to be angry though. And suspicious. I’m not sure I would have acted much differently if I had been in your shoes.”

Kaidan let out a soft chuckle. Lifting his hand, he gently touched her chin, tilting her head up. “We’re going to be apologizing to each other for a millenia if we don’t stop. What would the galaxy say if they saw the two human Spectres acting liking this?”

Olivia snorted. “If they saw it they would probably think they were hallucinating. Olivia Shepard’s the ultimate marine, haven’t you heard? Barely human, a beast on the battlefield. One doesn’t cross her,” she said, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Kaidan took her face in both his hands and stared intently at her. “You are more than human enough for me.”

He kissed her then, softly, almost tentative. Olivia near froze, mostly out of shock. She hadn’t been held much less kissed in so long that she’d nearly forgotten what it was like. The last to do so was the man holding her right now.

She pulled back, placing a hand on his chest. Underneath her fingers she could feel his heart, steady and strong. Her lips tingled as she ran her tongue over the top one. Kaidan gazed down at her, his gaze filled with a warmth and intensity that made her heart stumble.

“I never stopped, you know,” she whispered.

“Stopped what?” he asked as he moved one hand back, his fingertips grazing the delicate shell of her ear.

“Loving you. I never stopped loving you.”

Kaidan stared at her in wonder for several seconds before wrapping his arms around her to pull her body flush with his as he swooped down to claim her lips again. This time she kissed him back, threading her fingers through his carefully combed thick hair. He nipped lightly at her lips before running his tongue along her bottom one, begging entrance. Olivia opened to him, in more ways than one. Heat flushed through her body as his hands slid under her tank top to caress the muscles skin beneath.

A soft moan escaped her lips as he kissed down her jaw, taking her earlobe between his teeth, tugging lightly before moving down the column of her neck. He pulled aside her tank top to press an open-mouthed kiss to the juncture where her neck and shoulder met. Olivia let her head fall back, revelling in the feel of his touch. For the first time in a long time she felt truly alive.

As his hands slid over and down her ass Olivia jumped up, wrapping her long legs around him, needing to feel closer to him. She was pulsing with need as her fingers worked the buttons of his BDU top, needing to feel his skin under her hands. His fingers danced up her spine as she finally spread his shirt open, pushing it down his arms. He let go of her long enough to toss it to the side before he grabbed the edges of her tank top and pulled it over her head. Her sports bra quickly followed and he pulled her tightly against him. His springy chest hair teased her sensitive nipples and she felt his cock straining against his pants, hot and hard.

She gasped as he palmed her naked breast, his thumb drawing circles around the areola before rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Arching into his touch, she barely felt him lower them to the floor. Kaidan settled over her, pushing her arms up above her head, linking their fingers together. He pulled back, his gaze raking over her face.

“I never stopped either,” he said hoarsely, his voice thick with desire. “I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to. I will always love you.”

“Kaidan,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Her heart was so full at that moment she thought it might burst.

“Can I look at you? I want to see you, touch you.”

Olivia nodded slowly, licking her lips as he sat up, his fingers trailing down her arms. She kept  her hands above her head, twitching when his fingers skimmed over the sensitive flesh of her inner elbow. His gaze followed his hands as they moved downward, letting the back of his fingers graze the outer sides of her breasts. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the valley between them, his hands molding them, pushing them up. Hot breath smoked over her skin just before he took a nipple into his mouth, his tongue swirling around the tip. It took everything she had to keep her arms above her head as her body instinctively arched into his mouth. She had forgotten how good he was at this.

He moved over to her other breast, nipping at the tip before taking it into his mouth. She felt his hand slide down her bare waist, his fingers dancing along the edge of her pants. Her body felt like it was on fire and she could feel the telltale wetness of desire between her legs as he pushed himself up. The pupils of his hazel eyes were blown wide with desire as if he could smell hers.

He glanced down then, a slight frown marring his face. He trailed his fingers down the center of her chest, tracing the scar she’d forgotten was there.

“That’s where they put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Or one of the places that is,” she said hesitantly, not wanting the memory of her death and rebirth to intrude on this moment. Kaidan stayed silent as he touched the scar. Olivia bit her lip and tried to suppress the tears that were pricking at her eyes. She couldn’t feel anything on the scar itself, but the skin around it was hypersensitive.

“I knew that, well, I didn’t, but still, I knew that they went to extremes to bring you back, but actually seeing it is a different thing.” Before Olivia could say anything, before she could say that it was okay, that they could stop, Kaidan leaned over and kissed down the scar to where it ended just above her belly button and then back up again. He rested his forehead against her chest and she thought she heard a slight sob come from him. She brought her arms down, cradling his head in her hands. His breath ghosted over her skin and she had to fight against the ball of desire the clenched in her core. He needed this moment and she was more than willing to give it to him.

“We can stop. I understand if you want to,” she told him even as her heart ached. _I’ll understand if you don’t want me anymore_ , she thought even as it tore at her heart. She didn’t want to push him somewhere he didn’t want to go.

His head snapped up, a myriad of emotions playing across his face. “I don’t want to stop, I just need a moment,” he said as he let out an unsteady breath. “It just hit me again, that’s all. How I had lost you. The only good thing that Cerberus ever did was bring you back. You were tempered in fire and came out stronger.”

“Kaidan,” she said, tears now flowing down her cheeks. He pulled himself up her body, skin sliding against skin as he kissed her tears away.

“Don’t ever leave me again. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

He kissed her again, harder this time, with just an edge of desperation to it. His hands were rougher now, moving down her body to the waistband of her leggings. With a few tugs he pulled them and her underwear off at the same time. His mouth and hands were everywhere, grasping and clutching her to him. When his fingers slid over her wet warmth, she thrust into his hand, a cry bursting from her lips.

He teased the skin around her clit, circling around it before drawing his fingers away. Olivia swore as he did it again and she felt his lips curve against hers as he played her body. When he finally cupped her, his middle finger drawing a line up her center she felt like she was about ready to burst.

“Kaidan, please.”

“Not just yet. We have a lot of time to make up for.”

“Bastard.”

He just smiled before he kissed her, inserting a finger inside her and then another, easily moving in and out with how wet she was. She clutched at him, her fingers digging into his back as he pressed his thumb against her clit, rubbing slow circles around it, slowly increasing the pressure as he increased the pace of his fingers. Just when she was about to crest, he removed his fingers, bringing them to his lips. She watched him as he sucked her juices off his fingers, his eyes closing briefly as he savored the taste.

“Mmmm, just as I remembered,” he said before rubbing his thumb across her lower lip. Olivia darted out her tongue and tasted herself on his skin. This was so much better than doing it by herself even if it was slightly more frustrating when her partner was drawing it out. “I think I want to try some more.”

He moved down her body so quickly that she barely registered it. His spread her legs open, flipping them over his shoulders as his thumbs slid through her wet folds. No, not just wet, drenching. Kaidan flicked his tongue against her, gathering up her juices before humming appreciatively. He flicked it again, this time running the flat of it up her before circling around her clit. Olivia reached down, grasping his hair in her hand, urging him on. Needing no more encouragement, he pressed his mouth against her and sucked on her clit. Olivia cried out, her body tensing as he ate her out. She cried out again, louder this time as his fingers entered her again, curling upward to reach that bundle of nerves inside her. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she reached the peak, unable to stop the wave of her orgasm crashing down over her.

She lay there, nearly spent as he kissed the inside of her thigh, her body twitching at the contact.

“Are you ready for more?” he asked, his voice hoarse. Olivia looked down. His gaze was intense, fire sparking behind his eyes. He had to be near to bursting by now.

She nodded, her breath still coming out in heavy streams.

“I need to hear you say it, Liv.”

“Yes, I’m ready. More than ready.”

He smiled then and she thought that she had never seen anything more beautiful. He sat up, reaching for the buckle to his pants. Olivia followed him, her hands stilling his. Kneeling before him, she undid his pants and pushed them over his hips. She looked down and saw his cock straining against the soft fabric of his boxer briefs. With a slight smile, she looked back up at him as her fingers traced the line of him, her smile growing when he groaned and thrust unconsciously into her hand.

“Hey, you teased me. Turnabout is fair play.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather not cum in my underwear, which is what will happen if you keep that up.”

She nearly groaned herself at the thought of him inside her. No, she definitely did not want to miss that.

Without another word she pushed down his boxers, running her hands over his ass, squeezing it for good measure. _Yep,_ she thought, _still as firm as ever_.

Kaidan kicked off his pants and boxers, his breath coming a little harder now. Olivia traced her fingers along his collarbone and over his wide shoulders. She had the urge to explore his body, just as he had hers, but that would have to wait for next time. And there _would_ be a next time.

With a slight push she put him on his back and straddled his hips, his straining cock between them. Kaidan groaned as she wrapped her hand around it, brushing her thumb over the wide tip, spreading the pre-cum over it. His fingers dug into her hips, his eyes never leaving hers as she raised her hand to her lips and put her thumb into her mouth, sucking off his pre-cum.

“Mmm,” she said, smiling as she let out her thumb with a soft pop. “Just as I remembered.”

With a soft growl, Kaidan flipped them, pinning her arms above her head again. She felt him press against her still wet entrance and felt herself grow wetter. She drew her legs up and wrapped them around his waist, tilting her hips up to receive him. With one hand still holding her wrists, he reached down and guided himself into her, sinking slowly into her until he was fulling hilted. Olivia let out a weighty moan as he filled her, the pulse of his cock inside her and his heart against her almost too much to bear. And then he began to move, slowly at first, with firm strokes, nearly pulling all the way out before sinking back into her.

She marveled at his control. With just a few touches he had her near spinning again. She tightened her legs around him and met him thrust for thrust. His pace faltered slightly when she clenched her walls around him, wanting to see if she could break that control of his. If only he would let go of her hands. She knew just where to touch to break him which was probably why he held her down.

His pace quickened, his thrusts becoming more forceful as he plunged deeper. Kaidan reached between them and unerringly found her clit, moving his fingers in time with his thrusts and Olivia lost all thought and just revelled in the feel and smell of him. Their skin was slick with sweat as they pushed each other harder and higher.

Kaidan latched onto her shoulder, biting it as he finally came, spilling himself into her. Olivia cried out, her walls spasming around him as another orgasm slammed into her. She held him close, her arms finally free as his orgasm played out, his body jerking into hers as he came to completion.

Olivia closed her eyes, waiting as her breath and heart slowed down into its regular rhythm. Kaidan’s head was still nestled in the crook of her neck, his lips pressing against the spot where he had bit her. Not hard, she thought, but enough to where it was going to leave a mark.

Her legs slid bonelessly from his waist, her body spent. Minutes passed by as they just held each other, two lovers finally finding their way home.

“Well, I guess that takes care of my cardio workout,” she said when she finally managed to catch her breath.

Kaidan chuckled, kissing her shoulder one last time before raising himself up to his elbows. “Mine to. I even got some target practice in as well. My aim’s not bad if I do say so myself,” he smirked.

Olivia rolled her eyes. “Your aim’s pretty good.”

“Just pretty good, huh?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Can’t have you thinking it’s perfect. There’s always room for improvement.”

“As they say practice makes perfect.”

Olivia snorted as she took in her situation. “I see that I’m on the bottom again.”

“I thought you liked it when I take charge.”

She gave him a smirk of her own as she leaned up to kiss him. “Oh, I do, but I wouldn’t mind coming out on top once in awhile.”

“I’d say we both come out on top.” He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Give me a few minutes and we could go for round two.”

“I think we’ve pushed our luck here. We may be the only two human Spectres but we’re not the _only_ Spectres in the galaxy. Jondum Bau’s still on station if I remember correctly. We wouldn’t want to get a demerit for inappropriate use of the training room. We should probably hit the showers.”

Kaidan sighed as he slid out of her and Olivia felt a slight ache at his absence. She took his proffered hand and let him help her to her feet.

“You’re probably right,” he said as he gathered up their clothes, tossing hers to her. “The showers it is. Though I’ve heard rumors about the Commander’s shower on the _Normandy_. Allegedly it’s miles above anything a regular soldier can get.”

Olivia let out a laugh at his hopeful look as she pulled her tank over her head. “We’ll have to suffer the mediocre showers here I’m afraid,” she smiled. “Though I have some pull on the _Normandy_. I can probably talk the Commander there into letting us use her shower. We could take our time.”

Kaidan gave her a heated look and Olivia’s heart flipped. “I’m going to hold you to that.”


End file.
